Champaign, Ill. - The University of Illinois ranked No. 15 in the nation in men's basketball home attendance during the 2013-14 season, according to figures recently released by the NCAA. Illinois averaged 15,246 fans per game, with a total of 243,931 people passing through the State Farm Center turnstiles spanning 16 games. Illinois played in front of five sellout crowds during the season and saw its attendance average increase by 429 over last year (14,817). The Fighting Illini have now ranked in the top 17 nationally in home attendance for 15 consecutive seasons, and in the top 25 for 36 years in a row.

The Big Ten conference, meanwhile, led the nation in men's basketball attendance for the 38th consecutive season. The Big Ten set a conference record with an average attendance of 13,534 per game, including regular season home games and all six sessions of the Big Ten Tournament.

During the 2013-14 campaign, the Big Ten welcomed 2,896,322 patrons; the 22nd straight year the conference eclipsed the two million mark. For regular season and postseason home games only, the conference saw an increase in average attendance for the fifth consecutive year with 13,389 patrons per contest, the highest average since at least the 1999-2000 season. The Big Ten's average attendance ranks third since at least 1971-72, trailing only the 1989-90 (13,455) and 1999-2000 (13,443) campaigns.

In addition, for the first time since 2000-01 and 2001-02, the Big Ten drew an average of at least 13,000 fans per home game in back-to-back seasons. During Big Ten play, the conference eclipsed 1.5 million fans (1,513,266) for the first time in conference history, and averaged more than 14,000 fans per conference home game (14,012) for just the third time since at least the 1962-63 season.